In past years, the presiding officers regularly scheduled extended floor sessions in the evenings and weekends to work through the third reading list. A new bargaining chip has emerged this session—Fridays.

For many lawmakers, they are only familiar with excess revenues and debates over where to spend it. Now, however, state resources are coming back down to earth, requiring the legislature to slim its spending.

The collegiality between the parties has been a pleasant change of pace from previous sessions, where the parties started on a collision course.

With new members and leadership, Oregon lawmakers are reviving a series of proposals that came up short in previous sessions, including campaign finance limits and self-serve gas, suggesting lawmakers believe they have a better chance of success this time around.

Despite only meeting for three days this week, the legislature still covered a lot of ground on housing, semiconductors, and the trajectory of tax and fiscal politics.